Lost in Darkness
by Tigerhorse717
Summary: Emma is faced with the choice to either become a murderer or allow her True Love to kill her parents in order to get her happy ending, and she discovers just how easy it can be to slide into darkness. AU, set in the Enchanted Forest. Dark Emma!


A/N: This is a one-shot based off a prompt I received from my 250th reviewer for Cursed. I may come back to it after I finish my other stories because I had a good time writing it, but no promises. I hope you enjoy.

Prompt from Harley Quinn Davidson: Regina is the Evil Queen in all her Glory and Emma goes evil or has always been evil to join her in true love, story line or other details are writer's choice

Disclaimed: I don't own the characters or world of Once Upon a Time.

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Lost in Darkness

This was never supposed to happen. Blue's wards were supposed to keep _her_ out of our castle. We were supposed to be safe. But we weren't and it was entirely my fault. I had betrayed everything and everyone I had ever known because I couldn't bear the thought of living a lie, of living without the woman I'd fallen in love with before I ever saw her beautiful brown eyes, or heard her sultry voice. And now I was faced with an impossible choice.

For a moment, I wished I'd never found that glass coffin abandoned in the deepest part of the forest. When I saw it, I immediately knew what it was from my parents' tales of how they fell in love and found their happy ending. I had run to that coffin so excited to see a part of their past. But it wasn't empty. The most beautiful woman I'd ever seen was lying inside. I didn't know who she was and I was too naïve to connect this beautiful woman, who looked so peaceful in sleep, with the Evil Queen my parents had defeated before I was born.

I felt more in that first moment I saw her stunning face than I had in the previous 18 years of my life. And so with the hope of following in my parents' footsteps and finding my own happy ending within the coffin, I pushed the lid open and kissed the woman inside. She'd woken with a gasp and blinked up at me. For a second her stunning brown eyes had only held darkness and fury, but that had cleared almost instantly to be replaced by joy and awe. She had tenderly reached up to cup my cheek and reverently traced the lines of my face. And I'd kissed her again overjoyed that I'd found my one true love.

But that had been two years ago, and I hadn't gotten my happy ending. That hope had died once we learned the truth about who the other was. Not a day had gone by that I hadn't thought of her and the love I found in the coffin hadn't diminished. That was why I was now in this impossible situation. I was supposed to be married in the morning. Not to my true love, but to a prince from a nearby kingdom, and I had only wanted to see her one last time before I gave away my happiness for the good of the kingdom. I told her how to get past the wards and now she had me and my parents trapped within their throne room.

"Emma, you don't have to do this," my mom pleaded on the other side of the room as she cradled my dad's unconscious body, tears sliding down her cheeks.

"Yes, Emma, you do," the Evil Queen stated coldly from her place between me and my parents. "It's simple really. Your parents are trying to take away your happy ending. Either you let me kill them, or you kill the only man in all the realms that could help them keep you from me. I won't allow Snow White to steal my happiness again."

Tears welled in my eyes as I looked up at the woman I loved. When my eyes met hers, they softened and I could see how desperately she wanted me. I swallowed hard and dropped my eyes to the dagger in her hand. I'd never seen a blade like it before. The blade curved in wide waves before it tapered into a sharp point, with black etchings on the side I could see. I looked over at my parents before focusing back on my love.

"I can't let you kill them, Regina. I love them," I said softly.

I was surprised when she smiled and her eyes lit with compassionate understanding. "I know, dear. That's why you must kill Rumplestiltskin."

I hesitated one more moment before I slowly stood and held out a shaky hand. I'd never killed anyone and I was horrified with myself for even considering it. But I had to protect my parents. As Regina turned the blade to place the hilt in my hand, my mother cried out, "No, Emma! Don't do this, you'll bec—"

"SILENCE!" Regina bellowed as she waved her free hand and my mother gaped as her voice was magically stolen.

I clenched my jaw and wrapped my cold fingers around the dagger's grip. I turned to my mom and said, "If this is what it takes to keep you safe, then I'll do it." She shook her head fiercely and I turned away to look at my true love. "But, once I do this you have to promise you will stop trying to hurt them."

She smiled and a cold surge of foreboding slide down my spine at the wickedness of that smile. "That's simple enough, my love."

I pushed away the feeling brought on by her smile and nodded, "Alright, then let's finish this."

The Evil Queen threw one victorious grin at my mother before she took my hand and we disappeared in a cloud of dark purple smoke. When it cleared, we were standing in front of the cell my parents had trapped Rumplestiltskin in all those years ago. I'd never seen him before and was repulsed by his rotting, yellow teeth and the flaky gold skin.

"Hello, dearies," he crooned, giggling as he approached the bars.

"Hello, Rumple. Have you met Snow's daughter, yet?" Regina sneered.

I swallowed nervously and shifted from foot to foot. "Um, hello," I said awkwardly, not even realizing that I had waved the hand holding the dagger until his eyes locked on it and darkened dangerously.

"How did you find it?" He demanded angrily, looking between the Queen and I.

Regina smirked and crossed closer to the cell, "Perhaps you should have found a better hiding place, dear. It was remarkably easy to find."

The man surged forward and reached between the bars to grip the Queen's throat, pulling her closer to the bars as he growled, "You shouldn't have done that, dearie."

Regina gurgled when his grip tightened and I was immediately afraid that he would kill her. I sprang forward and thrust the blade between the bars and into his chest with a grace I didn't know I possessed. Rumplestiltskin released Regina and stumbled back with a gasp. His hands came up to weakly fumble with the hilt of the dagger.

"I'm sorry," I gasped, tears sliding down my cheeks as the reality of what I'd done crashed over me. I knew he could never survive a wound like that. Everything slowed down and it felt like an eternity passed as I watched the man I'd killed crumple to the ground. I heard him wheeze out a final breath before he lay still.

A warm, gentle hand found my shoulder and I turned to see that Regina was watching me with concerned eyes as she rubbed her sore neck. Only then did I realize that my chest was heaving as I struggled to pull air into my lungs. A sob escaped my lips and I turned into her and buried my face against her neck as I broke down, unable to deal with what I'd done.

"Hush, it's going to be alright, my love. We can be truly happy now, dear. No one can keep us apart," she murmured soothingly as she stroked my back and held me against her.

Eventually, my sobs died away and I pulled back to wipe the tears from my cheeks. I felt hollow and exhausted, but I managed to ask, "Are you alright? I thought he was going to kill you?"

She smiled lovingly and said, "I'm fine, dear. You saved me."

I nodded and asked, "Can we get out of here now. I can't stay here."

"Not just yet, Emma. You need to retrieve your dagger. We don't want that falling into the wrong hands, dear," she said flatly as she moved to the lever that would raise the bars of the cell.

"No, I don't want it," I said immediately.

Her eyes narrowed and she turned the lever as she coldly said, "You have to take it, Emma."

I gaped at her; she'd never used that tone on me before. But when she only shifted into a more confrontational stance and waited, I nervously licked my lips and slowly made my way over to the body. I tried not to look at anything but the hilt as I reached out with trembling fingers and grabbed the dagger. I closed my eyes and pulled. There was a sickening squelch as it came free of the body and my eyes flew open, drawn immediately to the blood running down the blade.

I gasped, dropping the dagger and stumbling back several feet. Beneath the blood, my name was etched into the blade with the same black design that decorated the rest of the blade. "Why—?" I panted, my chest heaving with the fear and confusion that filled me at the sight.

"What's wrong, Emma?" Regina said, quickly moving to my side. I couldn't answer so I pointed my shaking hand at the dagger. She moved quickly and picked it up. I watched a small satisfied smile curl on her lips as she read my name. It confused me, but I couldn't say anything as she calmly wiped the blade clean on Rumplestiltskin's shirt and moved back to me. She offered me the dagger and gently said, "It's yours now, Emma. You're the new Dark One."

Horror filled me at those words. "No! I can't be. I don't want that. I can't," I gasped, shaking my head as though it would change the truth I could hear in her words.

A noise sounded behind us and Regina's head snapped up, her eyes going cold in an instant. She shoved the dagger into my hand and hurriedly said, "We're about to have company. Don't let go of that dagger, no matter what happens."

I swallowed hard and nodded as we turned and moved away from the cell to face whoever was coming. Regina conjured a fireball at the same moment a dozen of my parents' soldiers rounded the corner with swords drawn. They charged us, aiming towards the Queen. When I realized that they were going to try and kill her, my hand reflexively tightened around the hilt of my dagger. Cold, dark energy washed through me, settling in my heart and washing away my doubts and fears and leaving a malevolent blackness behind.

I surged forward, moving fast through the front line of soldiers. My blade slid easily through plate armor as I lashed out, leaving nothing but corpses in my wake. A feral grin split my lips as I reveled in the ability to dispatch those that would hurt my one true love. I ducked as her fireball flew over my head, dropping several soldiers while I wove through the rest, killing them before they could raise their swords against us.

When all was still and the dirt floor was going soft with the spilled blood, I turned back to my Queen and smiled at the wary look in her eyes. I lifted an eyebrow and held out my free hand for her. "Shall we, my love?"

She cautiously crossed through the bodies, searching my eyes as she drew closer. Her worry was nearly palpable and I softened, not wanting to scare her. "Regina, isn't this what you wanted when you blackmailed me into killing Rumplestiltskin?" I asked softly. When she hesitated to answer, I added, "Didn't you want me to become the Dark One? So we could be together and no one could stand against the combined might of the Dark One and the Evil Queen?"

"I did," she replied, still sounding too wary of me for my liking.

I sighed, "Then why are you afraid of me, my love?"

She straightened and her voice turned icy as she stated, "I do not fear anyone."

I grinned and held out my hand for her again. "Then take my hand, Regina. I need a few moments with my parents before we go home."

She lifted an eyebrow and a mischievous smirk spread across her face. "What are you going to do, Emma?"

I matched her look and simply said, "Take my hand and find out, my Queen."

Intrigue lit in her eyes and she placed her hand in mine. I thought of my parents and black smoke engulfed us transporting us back to the throne room. The first thing I noticed was that my father had regained consciousness. My parents immediately turned to us and my mother gasped, "No, Emma. What have you done?"

I dropped Regina's hand and stepped forward as I lifted my dagger to study my name beneath the fresh blood dripping from the blade. But the skin of my hand caught my interest. It had taken on a faint sheen of gold. I pushed away that concern for another time and flicked my eyes up to my parents. I grinned darkly as I turned the blade to allow them to read my name. "I did what I had to do to be happy," I said coldly.

"No, Emma. It didn't have to come to this. You would have been happy with Prince Jonathan," my father insisted.

"You are the biggest hypocrites I have ever met," I snapped. "You walked away from an arranged marriage to be with your true love. And yet, you tried to force me into one."

My mother spoke up, her patronizing voice grated on my nerves as she said, "No, Emma. We were trying to protect you. Jonathan's kingdom is strong and the alliance would have protected us all from _her, _the person who did this to you."

I growled, "She is my true love! And she did what was necessary for us to be together." I turned to Regina and held out my hand. She immediately stepped forward to take it, a wide victorious smile on her lips and a malicious twinkle in her eyes. I felt my blood heat in response to that look and I stepped into her, claiming her lips in a heated kiss.

A soft disgusted sound came from my father and I reluctantly broke the kiss, nibbling her lower lip in a silent promise to continue later. Regina smirked and turned to my parents. "Since you were so adamant that your daughter marry tomorrow, I will ensure that she does. After all, she deserves to be happy. However, I'm afraid you won't be invited, I wouldn't want anything to ruin her happy day."

I grinned and added, "And since you tried to keep me from my true love, but did not succeed, I think it only fitting that you lose sight of yours." That dark power surged within me and I waved the dagger over my parents. They both gasped as the spell took hold. I smirked and explained, "For a year and a day you will be unable to see anything. The spell will begin to fade after that, and your sight will gradually return. But, you will not be able to see each other until Prince Jonathan marries his true love and produces a child with her."

Regina laughed darkly, "How fitting."

I chuckled and nodded, "I thought so. Shall we go home, my love? We do have a wedding to plan."

"Yes, I believe it may be time, dear," She said, wrapping a possessive arm around my waist.

I smiled before I turned to take one last look at my parents, taking in their obvious distress and blind, milky eyes. A dark thrill raced down my spine at the sight and I mockingly said, "Good-bye Snow, Charming. Enjoy your happy ending, I know I will." Their loud, plaintiff cries sounded like music to my ears as black smoke engulfed Regina and I, transporting us away from my past as Princess Emma White.

When the smoke cleared, I turned into my true love and kissed her deeply, celebrating the beginning of my future as Emma, the Dark One and soon to be wife of the Evil Queen.


End file.
